Unflinching Resolve
by EternalCanadian
Summary: The Human/Covenant was a long one, billions died on both sides yet Humanity always stood tall, fought back and kept going even when it seemed impossible. For the UNSC battlegroup Lima they will need to do this once again when they are thrown into another universe entirely and for one SPARTAN super soldier she'll need to overcome her hate and learn to trust those she despises.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**Welcome to the prologue of my first ever Mass Effect crossover! This first chapter is only Halo but this will get you introduced to the main character.**

 **Please leave a review and tell me how I did so far, thank you.**

 **Enjoy this story! :)**

* * *

 _Psychological Evaluation [08/34/53] CURRENT HANDLER: CMDR TROTT, JASON (1123-3455-JT)_

 _SUBJECT: Spartan III Operator Alpha-198 (ONI Beta Five Division)_

 _DOB: 03/28/24_

 _Gender: Female_

 _I was suprised by the amount of black ink with A-198, they classified her name, for crying out loud! Reminds me of B-312._

 _SPARTAN Operator A-198 is a lone wolf in every sense of the word. She rarely interacts with ship crew or team members unless absolutely necessary. From the files given to me by her previous handler this wasn't always the case. She was a member of Alpha Company Fireteam Ferret along side A-292 and A-344 specifically._

 _After Operation: SWINDLER [See attached file] she was pulled from her mainline company along with her team to be inserted separately into combat theaters._

 _She assisted SPARTAN IV Fireteam Cutthroat [See attached file] on a recent operation to the former outer colonies and, from the after action report from SPARTAN operator Palmer it was found that she routinely disregarded her orders and engaged enemy combatants in a prolonged shootout that cost the unit the element of suprise and alerted the enemy to their presence. Never the less the mission was a complete success._

 _Post mission briefings showed A-198 only disregarded orders when the presence of Covenant hostiles was confirmed. It's possible that A-198 has something of a bloodlust when dealing with aliens. This will hopefully be tested BEFORE the next mission._

 _She has also displayed a very noticable disregard for the moral and ethical consequences of her actions on missions and has routinely used allies as bait or decoys without their knowledge to enable her to slip by enemy positions. This hopefully will not be an issue for the next mission._

 _FINAL VERDICT: Cleared for active duty._

* * *

 **UNSC Outer Colony Victoria, 10:00 hrs, October 30th 2553/UNSC Military Calendar/Military Standard Time**

The colony was cold, A-198 thought, cold and lifeless. It had every right to be cold and lifeless though, considering the state it was in. 8 years had passed since the attack, since this colony and everyone on it had breathed their last. A-198 was now trekking along a highway, passing the shells of cars and trucks with the occasional remains of a military checkpoint dotted here and there. A-198 wordlessy passed the gray remains of a M12 LRV, its green paint gone and replaced with its grey frame.

She wondered how it could have survived out here in the open, with nothing to cover it or keep it from being burned away by the glass.

That's all this colony was now, what all of the colonies that came into contact with the Covenant were. Glass.

A-198 wondered if the vehicles former occupants even knew their last moments would be in that car, that the green armoured reconnaissance vehicle that they depended on so dearly would be their tomb. A-198 doubted it as she ran an armoured encased hand over the hood, the skeleton of the driver staring at her with long dead eyes.

She gave the hood a final pat before continuing on, her trek brining her ever closer to the capital city.

Once, the boulevard A-198 walked along had been bustling with people, businessmen, children, happy families just going about their day. Not so anymore. The boulevard was filled with wrecked cars, twisted pipes and upturned tables and furniture. The remains of a streetcar was turned on its side, blocking a fair bit of the road up ahead. The city loomed to the left and the once beautiful coast on the right.

The former colony was said to have better coasts than Arcadia, New Barbados and Heilis combined, perfect for romantic getaways, family vacations or just a good swim. Not anymore.

Arcadia had been destroyed in 2546 when the Covenant finally had enough of the little colony, glassing her before the UNSC Navy could stop them. New Barbados had been glassed in 2552 alongside Reach, Tribute, Heilis and New Jerusalem with countless other colonies being cut off from Earth and each other.

A-198 continued her journey, her soft breathing her only companion as her armour attempted to counter the barrage of toxic particles left behind by the attack. Her eyes wandered to her air supply however she had more than enough.

The lone warrior entered the city proper, her hands gripping her weapon tightly as she walked down street after street, alley after alley. She was met with only silence. No birds chirped, no wind rustled the dead leaves. No children played in the park and no cars drove. It was pure, utter silence.

A-198 had been just 4 years old when the alien Covenant had attacked her home colony of Medusa in 2528, killing her family in the opening shots as the civilians, panicked and scared swarmed the evac ships while the Army and Marines fought a losing battle against the monsters on the ground. In orbit it was the same with the evacuation ships having to dodge not only alien fighters and capital ships but the bodies and wreckage of their own.

Neither Aliens or humanity owned Victoria now. No man was the new owner of the dead world and like always he wasn't a good caretaker.

This was exemplified by the debris of a skyscraper, it's mighty frame collapsed into the surrounding streets and other buildings.

In a way one could argue that the destroyed skyscraper symbolized humanity. When it was standing it was tall and proud, a beacon for all to see. Then the war came. It's body cracked and withered as assault after assault hit it over and over. Then it toppled under the strain of just staying alive.

But where the skyscraper failed humanity succeeded. The war was over, humanity had survived. The cost of doing so, however was enormously high.

23 billion souls had died in the 27 year long human-Covenant war.

Almost every single human colony no longer existed in its former capacity. They were all shells, glass like Victoria. Even Earth, humanity's cradle was scarred. A-198 kept walking, her gaze on the rooftops and windows as she watched for snipers.

A-198 found her objective a little over an hour later.

A three storey parking garage filled to the brim with cars and trucks. Some still had paint though chipped and faded. A-198 ran a hand along the door of a green four door sedan, it's windows cracked and damaged. A-198 spyed the remains of a car seat for an infant in the back and instantly decided to continue on, shaking her head to clear the images that had formed.

Even here, thousands of miles away from the beams the city died.

The first beams had hit the planet's one large ocean, boiling it and causing shockwaves and earthquakes to ripple outwards, flattening towns, villages and coastal cities. No one was spared as the air turned toxic and unbreathable and buildings collapsed on each other.

A-198 ascended the parking garage quickly and efficiently, coming to the third storey less than five minutes later.

The sky had gone from a light gray in the morning to almost complete blackness and yet she saw lights on the horizon. A-198 went prone and slowly crawled to the lip of the parking garage and turned the zoom function in her helmet to maximum.

Her mission was to preform recon on a suspected rebel base and assist a larger UNSC force in taking it. The base miles away, however was definitely not affiliated with the rebels.

Tall purple spires dotted the skyline with guard towers placed along a 10 meter high wall, most likely electrified. The hiss and whine of what could only be Covenant machinery could be heard for miles around.

The lone SPARTAN wasn't sure where all this material had appeared from. The Covenant had been fractured after the battle for Earth and their ships, supplies and gear was scrapped or was being fought over by the former Covenant races.

This base was much to well equipped to be scavengers. The SPARTAN III wondered if these were the Covenant Separatists she had heard about from an after action report after the battle for Earth.

The Elites, for some reason or another broke away from the Covenant, fighting the brutes over whatever Elites fought over. A-198 didn't care to ask what they were fighting over as she didn't care. Not that she had the clearance, anyway.

She gave the base another once over, deducing that, these couldn't be Covenant Separatists and it most certainly wasn't scavengers. It was possible she was dealing with that group of Elite rebels calling themselves the 'Storm' Covenant that had popped up recently near the border.

Either way this was bad, very bad.

A-198 headed into the garage's stairwell, her temporary base of operations to radio the _Sahara_ -class stealth ship in orbit and get in contact with her superiors.

There would be no reinforcements tonight. Victoria was tormented with deadly, fast winds that could take down a Pelican in seconds, never mind a Falcon.

After a tense and very one sided conversation with her superiors she had been given new orders. Her orders were to wait until dawn when a flight of Falcons could be mustered and deployed then attack the base with ODST's and the Falcons as support. They would enter the base and find out what was so important to the former Covenant on-planet.

Then A-198 would kill them all.

She spent the next hour watching the rebel Covenant base from the roof of the parking garage, her features concealed by a tarp she nailed into the withering stone. She monitored patrol patterns, guard shifts and convoys until her mission clock read 20:00.

She stood up, retreating into the garage proper to set up motion sensors and antipersonnel mines at key junctions.

A lone operator had to be extra carful when setting up camp, a bevy of extra mines, sensors and warning signals were needed to compensate for the lack of another soldier on watch and this was no different.

A-198 placed mines and sensors at doorways, ramps and under cars before moving the remains of luggage and boxes to form a make shift barricade around her sleeping area. She checked her armour's air supply and the air's toxicity level before leaning up against a wall next to the stairs, turning in for the night. Her weapon, An M7 suppressed SMG with a red dot sight and a flash light, as always leaned beside her, safety off.

* * *

 **UNSC Colony of Victoria, 05:54 hrs, October 31st 2553/UNSC Military Calendar/Military Standard Time**

A-198 woke quickly, her weapon in her hands and sweeping the surroundings in seconds. Something had tripped the trackers.

She stood up, her grey/black MOLNJIR Mark V armour making no sound as she gained her bearings.

Her helmet was of the RECON variant, made to minimize her profile and infrared signature. She had added a CBRN module to better deal with Victioria's harsh environment. Her left shoulder was of the CQC design to give her arm and shoulder better protection from attacks from a flank while she was shooting. Her right shoulder was an OPERATOR variant specifically tailored for solo operatives while her chest was covered with ammo pouches, an extra radio and a small rucksack attached to her lower back/waist. Her belt held all manner of grenades, from High Explosive to Incendiary to various smoke and gas grenades.

A favorite of hers was the M23 Python poison bomb. A light weight, black, cylindrical grenade that released a cloud of extremely toxic poison for 10 meters in all directions. Technically illegal though when the Covenant showed up previous jurisdictions when dealing with enemy combatants were thrown out the window.

She had a small personal medical kit on her left thigh and an extra knife below it. An M6H sidearm was magnetically attached to her right thigh as a back up weapon. Her left wrist held a UGPS/Locator and her right wrist was the sheath for a knife. Her knee armour was apart of the GUNGNIR class of armour systems. the entire armour suite held the properties of its RECON helmet and as such she was almost invisible to radar and thermal imaging sensors.

Her armour was painted a charcoal grey with black stripes dotted here and there in no particular pattern. The only part of her armour that was coloured differently would be a dark yellow Griffin hand painted onto her CQC armour.

Some Marines questioned having the mythical bird painted onto her armour but they would never know its significace, it's meaning. A-198 painted it to remind her of the people who had never let her down...and who she would never forget.

She briefly looked to the mythical creature from behind her gold visor as she exited her sleeping area, her suppressed M7 SMG held tightly in her hands as she swept for targets.

She headed for the tripped sensor, finding nothing to indicate a hostile presence. Another soldier or Marine might have just assumed the sensor malfunctioned and take the needed steps to fix it.

A-198 was most certainly not a Marine.

She eyed her motion tracker in her peripheral vision as she pulled out her M6H sidearm, switching the M7 to her left hand so she could hold the M6H in her right.

Her motion tracker blipped red just outside her effective range and a sensor nearby also went off.

She wasn't alone in this decrepit parking garage on this long dead world.

She slowly walked forwards between two wrecked cars, her motion tracker blipped again.

And again. And again.

She mulled over what she could be facing, realizing neither option was pleasant.

She could be fighting Spec Ops Elites, the former Covenant's most valued troops equipped with personal shield systems, plasma weapons and invisibility.

Or Brute Stalkers. Ape like shock troopers that utilized energized spikes as ammunition for their weapons. They also possessed invisibility. And they were damn hard to kill.

Her weapons didn't have the power to punch through shields or armour as fast as she'd like. She'd chosen her gear on the prospect of fighting human rebels, not seven foot tall aliens.

She continued walking, eyeing her motion tracker as it filled with unseen contacts. She changed her IFF status from green to yellow, pinging the ONI prowler in orbit to notify them of the hostile encounter, hoping they'd send reinforcements of some kind or a better weapon.

The blips came closer now and her motion tracker looked like it would be engulfed by the mass of red dots.

She rounded a corner, eyeing a mass of old piled up cars. She swept her weapons over each one but found no contacts and thus she turned to continue her search.

That's when all hell broke loose. She was tackled from the side by an unseen force, ripping both weapons out of her grasp as it shoved her into a wall. The force of it almost drained her shields.

She kicked the thing repeatedly, attempting to dislodge it. She succeeded as she hit its groin, forcing it back and allowing A-198 to press the advantage. She unsheathed her knife located on her wrist and quickly plunged it into the invisible figure's, an Elite's, eye.

The alien recoiled visibly as its shield systems and invisibility generators stuttered and died as blood poured from the wound. A-198 didn't let the thing recover, charging it and shoving it to the ground as she unsheathed her other knife and quickly slashing the Elite across the stomach before stabbing it in the throat. As it fell A-198 pulled both her knives out of it's now spasming body and lunged for the nearest weapon, her pistol.

Two more Elites materialized behind a destroyed car and a support column respectively. Both fired bright blue blobs of searing hot plasma from their rifles, two of the rounds splashing against A-198's already weakened shield systems. She lunged behind a nearby pillar, her motion tracker identifying two large yellow blips approaching fast. A-198 fired at the Elites, forcing them back towards the open roof of the parking structure.

Both Elites were goaded back onto the roof with A-198 hot on their heels. The lone operator had picked up her SMG while she followed, peppe ing the two aliens with 5.5mm caseless ammunition as she placed her pistol in its magnetic holster, holding the M7 SMG in both hands.

She heard the whirring of propellers and saw two black UH-144 Falcon Gunships appear out of the fog. The Elites saw them to.

 _"This is Blackbird 1-1 to SPARTAN operator. I have positive ID on hostile foot mobiles. Permission to fire, over?"_ The lead pilot asked.

A-198 sent a trio of green acknowledgement lights to the two aircraft as she sighted both Elites. They were looking around confused and unsure of what to do in the face of the human firepower.

The first Falcon fired its chin mounted machine gun, hitting one of the Elites with a burst of fire that turned it into paste as it tried to escape.

Both helicopter's side gunners, all Orbital Drop Shock Troopers or ODST's, as well as the second Falcon's chin gun opened fire on the second Elite as it rushed straight towards the two gunships, jumping the five meter distance and two meter high difference in hight easily.

The Elite landed on the roof of the second Falcon, cackling with glee as it fired its plasma rifle into the left propeller, causing smoke to belch out.

 _"Blackbird 1-2 its on your roof! Swerve! Swerve! Shake it off!"_ The first Falcon pilot yelled to his comrade over the radio. _"Pinto kill that son of a bitch!"_

A-198 saw the rear gunner on Blackbird 1-1, presumably Pinto, facing the Elite attempt to fire. He managed to fire two 12.7mm rounds into the Elite but the Elite was already moving. It fired at the pilot's canopy, breaking it and burning the pilot alive.

The Falcon lurched to the right and would have hit the other gunship had it's pilot not flown upwards. The Elite on the second Falcon jumped towards the parking garage to escape the burning aircraft.

A-198 aimed and fired a burst from her SMG, causing the Elite to fall mid jump. It plummeted to the ground screaming.

Sadly it wasn't the only one.

Aside from the now dead pilot everyone inside the second Falcon, that is the two side gunners and the five people in the troop compartment, were relatively unharmed. A-198 rushed to the side of the roof as the Falcon fell out of the sky, intent on catching anyone who jumped.

Two Marines did jump, the first quickly grabbed hold of the railing on the parking garage and A-198 hurriedly pulled them up.

The other wasn't so lucky.

The Marine misjudged his jump and was caught in mid air by the spinning Falcon. The force of the impact shattered bones and crushed nerves as the Marine's armour crumbled under the weight. In another instant the Falcon and its passengers were out of sight of the roof, the Falcon crashed into the second storey of the garage before flipping and exploding in a bright ball of fire as it hit the ground.

Every single member of the crew barring the single Marine A-198 had hoisted up was dead. A-198 mutely stared at their IFF tags in the right corner of her HUD. Her fist clenched and unclenched as her breathing became hoarse.

She had failed. Those eight men and women had paid the price for her failure. They were mentally added to the list of hundreds upon hundreds of others like them. Soldiers, Marines, Civilians, ONI spooks but most importantly Spartans.

SPARTAN III Alpha Company specificly. Her friends, her family.

 _"Your Fireteam is your family."_ Lieutenant Commander Ambrose had told them on their first day of team exercises. _"You will eat with them, sleep with them, kill with them...you may also die with them."_

But A-198 _hadn't_ died with them.

While the members of Alpha Company were sent on the suicidal Operation PROMETHUS she was sent to Reach. There she received new armour, new weapons and a new posting as a commissioned Leiutenant in the Office Or Naval Intelligence's Asymmetrical Action Group, Beta Five Division.

She would have rather been with her company, her team even if it meant death in the worst way possible. And so she felt very responsible whenever a human in close in proximity to her died. She had to make it up to her team. Her eyes drifed to the Griffin painted on her armour once more.

If she couldn't save the Falcon she would avenge them instead. She set her eyes on the purple towers in the distance, Banshee flyers were circling around, on alert due to the gunfire.

The other Falcon deposited its load of troops and then sped off into the sky.

A-198 gratefully accepted an M395 DMR and ammo from one of the Marines before she left the parking structure and headed towards the base. Her squad following close behind.

When she finished with the Storm Covenant there would be nothing left of them to find.

* * *

 **UNSC Colony Victoria, 16:12 hrs, October 31st, 2553/UNSC Military Calendar/Military Standard Time**

A-198 silently stared at the six remaining ODST's as they eyed the perimiter fence of the Covenant camp. They had slowly made their way across what remained of Victoria's capital city, dodging hostile foot patrols and Banshee flyers like the plauge.

The six Helljumpers had followed every order A-198 gave them to the letter. While she hadn't worked with them before she had handpicked them from ONI's files. All of them were Asymmetrical Action Group members specializing in disrupting Covenant operations during the war and all of them had stellar records.

"Eel Tee!" One trooper by the name of Dowes shouted over the comms. The Spartan turned to face the man. "Covvies are changing shifts!" The former SPARTAN III Alpha company member nodded, readying her M395 Designated Marksmen Rifle.

Like the M7 SMG magnetically attached to her armoured thigh the rifle was suppressed though the suppressor was internal instead of external. Unlike the normal rifle every member of the team using the rifle possessed modified variants. The magazine size had been increased from 14 to 35 rounds and every weapon had a smart-linked 'Blunderbuss' automatic shotgun attached on the underbarrel.

The shotgun, a relatively new development from ONI R&D was made to counter Covenant shield technology and make close quarter fights, which the Covenant preferred, easier on UNSC infantry. Initial testing showed a marked improvement on dealing with Elites and Brutes and many units in the UNSC Army's primary SPECWAR Force, AKA the UNSC Army Airborne or 'Rangers', had used the shotgun to great effect on numerous planets with the weapon outright replacing the antique 'Beehive' round fired from their underbarrel grenade launchers.

While none of the men currently under A-198's command were Army Rangers they knew how to use the Blunderbuss like pros. Even so, A-198 would have preferred a sqaud of the jetpack wearing soldiers to her current company. Disliking the Marines brash, gung-ho attitude. From her dealings with the Army's special operators they were much more reserved, quiet, calculated.

 _A match made in heaven_. A-198 thought.

However as ONI had little to no pull over the Army brass Rangers were out of the question. So A-198 had to settle for the Marines instead. The troopers were the best of the best, to be sure but they were so...reckless.

"Sergeant Hunt get your men ready. We'll rush the gate in three." A-198 said,

The big ODST nodded. "Copy, ready on three."

A-198 paused briefly before counting. "One...two...three." When she had finished she broke into a dead sprint which, propelled by Her MJOLNIR armour made her a blur as she rushed the fence. The ODST's following, running for all they were worth.

The former Covenant changed shifts every three hours. The change was quick, precise and easily used to enter the alien juggernaut's bases. The alien troops left their posts at the sound of a shift change instead of waiting for the next group of troops to relieve them. As such this allowed UNSC operatives to gain entry to bases almost unhindered. It seemed that these rebels kept the old system.

A-198 quickly grabbed a rope attached to her armour and threw it over the fence. Upon making sure it could hold her weight and that the line was secure the ODST's began climbing. A-198 climbing up last.

When the group were safely on the other side of the fence and in the hostile base A-198 motioned them forwards with a barrage of hand signals. Time was of the essence.

The ODST's would find and cripple key base systems, the motor pool, air pad, fuel depot and barracks while A-198 would head to the command centre to kill the base commander and find out why the aliens were here in the first place.

Both groups set off, the Helljumpers sticking close together and covering their sectors as they headed for the motor pool.

A-198, on the other hand dialled up her motion tracker and sensors so she could see the hostiles before they even heard her.

The base was suprisingly empty considering its size. A-198 roughly assumed it was about the same size as prefabricated fire bases deployed by the Marines for planetary assaults. A part of the Spartan's mind wondered where the Covenant were. Surely there'd be at least a few patrols here and there...right?

 _"Sergeant Hunt, report status."_ A-198 asked over the comms, wondering if the Marines had come into contact with enemy patrols.

 _"We found a good number of Covvies in their barracks, ma'am. They're dead now."_

 _"How many? I want numbers, ranks."_ A-198 queried _. Place is a ghost town._ She thought.

 _"Mostly Squid Minors and a couple of Majors. No Dogs or Kestrels. Company strength."_

 _"How'd you take them out?"_ A-198 asked. That was quite a feat.

 _"They were asleep, ma'am. Or atleast a few of them were. They fired off a couple, no casualties yet. Though they know we're in here."_

A-198 chuckled inwardly. _"Good work, trooper. Go slower if you have to and keep an eye out. Keep me posted."_ The comm clicked off, ending the conversation.

The lone Spartan continued onwards, her path taking her to the enemy command building. Twice she had to stop to allow an enemy patrol to pass or risk being discovered. Like the Sergeant said they wee on alert and gripped their weapons tightly.

Finally, after what seemed like hours but, according to her mission clock was only 15 minutes A-198 laid eyes on the enemy command building. It was the tallest building in camp and its giant spire shot up into the toxic, desolate sky.

A-198 briefly remembered when she was four asking her mother what was up there, in the sky, she remembered it clear as day.

"Mommy?" She had asked as the mother and daughter sat on a grassy hill overlooking the town they called home. A checkered blanket was separating them from the grass and a freshly emptied box of hot donuts between them. The night sky shown brightly and stars were everywhere.

"What's up baby?" Her mother had replied, turning her head to look at her daughter.

Her mother was a kind woman, always there for her daughter. A-198 distinctly remembered her mother always wearing a large amount of makeup,though she never knew why.

"What's up in the sky?" The four year old asked, pointing a small pale finger at the stars. Her mother hadn't replied, merely giving a sad, small, barely unnoticed to the four year old. Two days later A-198 had gotten an answer to her question.

A-198 shook her head clear of the memory, focusing back on the camp.

The space around the camp was clear, smooth ground telltale sign of glassing. No doubt it had been given a touch up by the Covenant occupiers when they returned here.

A-198 would make sure it was the last time aliens stepped foot on this soil. She briefly wondered if these former Covenant knew where they were standing, what they were standing on.

She doubted it as she prepared to breach the front door of the building, her DMR held in her right hand up and aimed at the rough estimation of an Elite's head while she prepped a flashbang grenade in her left hand. The door opened automatically and A-198 threw the flashbang, waited for it to detonate before charging in.

She saw Elites and Grunts manning moniters in a circular formation similar to that on a ships bridge. She fired her rifle, catching an Elite with its shields down and dispatching it with a headshot, she then quickly killed a trio of grunts before dealing with the last elite. This one had its shield up but no weapon. It died all the same.

The only hostile remaining was a lone grunt, cowering in the back of the room. There was no ranking officer present meaning they were in another part of the base, most likely their private quarters.

The Spartan III rounded on the lowly grunt when she saw there were no further hostiles.

"Can you understand me?" She asked, irritated that she needed to even _speak_ with the alien. The grunt stared into her gold visor fearfully as its image was reflected back at it.

"Me understand you demon." It stated in English. A-198 paused, it spoke without a trace of fear in it's voice.

"What are you doing here?" A-198 queried. "What are you looking for?"

"Me don't know. Me just follow orders." The grunt stated.

"That's a lie. You're in the command centre. You must know something. Tell me or I start hurting you." A-198 stated, letting some of her internal anger slip out. To speed things along she unsheathed her knife, slowly cutting the Grunt on its left arm. The Grunt winced behind its mask but didn't speak. "Talk!"

"Me no talk! Me follow orders!" A-198 began sawing its arm off with her knife causing the Grunt to scream in pain as it was tourtured.

"Talk!" She yelled.

"Sangheili want something in ground! Me no no what!" The Grunt yelled. A-198 tsked as she continued cutting.

"Not good enough. Who knows?"

"Leader knows! Leader knows!" The Grunt yelled pleadingly as A-198 reached the bone.

"Where is your leader?" A-198 pressed as she began hacking at the bone.

"In private room! In private room!" The Grunt wailed. It even pointed with it's uninsured arm to a door on the left, by the left side moniters. A-198 sheathed her knife. "Demon no kill me?" It asked.

"Thank you." A-198 said as she snapped the Grunt's neck.

She made her way to the door, ready to enter.

Most Covenant officers quarters were soundproofed and as such A-198 doubted anything that happened in the last five minutes was heard by the occupant if the base was the same as when the aliens had been the top dogs.

She entered, finding a single gold armoured Elite holding a crystal of some sort in its three fingered hand. It looked up, suprised to see the lone Spartan standing in the door way.

"A demon this far in my base. This is unexpected. I hoped you would have been killed by my patrols. I assume you come for this?" It held up the crystal.

A-198 had originally landed on this long forgotten world to deal with human rebels, not Covenant forces though the Elite didn't know that. A-198 nodded.

"This is an artifact of the gods themselves demon. I will not part with it willingly." The Elite stated, standing up and slowly reaching for the energy sword hilt on an early table. A-198 wondered if it's shield was turned on. "This artifact will crush you pathetic huma-"

A-198 fired a quartet of 7.62x51mm rounds at the Elite's skull, satisfied to see it drop lifelessly to the ground moments later as its shield sparked. The Elite wanted that crystal meaning ONI would want it as well.

A-198 picked up the crystal with her gloved left hand, tossing it up lightly before catching it and placing it in one of her many ammo pouches. She headed back into the main command centre to see what else she could pillage.

After looking for a total of ten minutes she found nothing of note, mentally wishing not for the first time she had an A.I to help with cyber-warfare and infiltration. She'd put a request for one when she got back. A-198 thought.

The lone SPARTAN made to leave the room when she heard an explosion from another part of the base. A-198 went to a crouch as she radioed the Helljumpers.

 _"Sergeant Hunt report status."_

 _"Covvies jumped us ma'am. We lost two to the initial ambush. We're falling back now."_

 _"Understood, we've got what we came for. Fall back to the initial entry point and hold until I arrive."_

 _"Copy that."_

A-198 broke into a run as she retraced her steps through the base, occasionally coming into contact with Jackels or Grunts that she dispatched with lethal precision.

She made record time to the initial meeting point, finding the ODST's in a pitched battle with Covenant forces. She quickly lended her assistance, killing three Elites before they could respond to her suprise attack. Two more turned to face her and she fired the Blunderbuss shotgun, the rounds burtsing mid air and showering the Elites with lead, overloading their shields and filling them with holes.

"Fall back! Call for Evac and head to the city! Move!" She yelled yo the Marines, who quickly followed her orders, preform ing a tactical retreat up the rope and outside the walls. A-198 being the last one out of the base.

The five UNSC personnel ran like the wind, never slowing down as Covenant Banshees and Wratihs strafed them and bombed them.

Lone of the Marines was frantically calling for Evac, yelled for all she was worth into her radio.

Occasionally plasma would splash over A-198's shields, bathing her in a bright gold glow. The group dodged Covenant hostiles on the ground and the air as they headed for a three story residential complex. They somehow made it unscathed to the building, A-198's shields notwithstanding.

"How long for Evac?" Sergeant Hunt asked the female Marine, a small woman by the name of Welkin.

"Four minutes, tops."

"Dig in, prepare for hostile contact. Someone get an IR flare up on the roof." A-198 said as she braced her rifle on a window, ready for Covenant reprisal for their base incursion.

The first sign of an Elite came at exactly two minutes until Evac. A-198 killed it quickly, focusing on the Elites while leaving the Grunts and Jackels to the Marines.

The battle was quick and bloody, the UNSC losing two more Marines to the alien onslaught, Sergeant Hunt among them. That left three UNSC personnel on the ground to brave the covenant.

A-198 ran out of ammo for her DMR as the Pelican dropship breached the cloud layer, firing it's chin mounted auto cannon at the alien hostiles, killing dozens as it landed.

Two Marines jumped out of the troop bay, covering the surviving trio as they double timed it to the dropship.

As soon as A-198's form was in the bay the Pelican took off, closing it's door and letting everyone but the pilot breathe a sigh of relief.

The Marines took off their helmets, patting eachother on the back and thanking the Pelican crew.

A-198 kept to herself, keeping her armour on until she reached the armour bay, the technicians removing it piece by piece until the only thing covering A-198's pale, skinny body was the black body suit. She made sure one of the ONI spooks got the crystal, the man thanked her before leaving the bay as the last of her armour came off.

She thanked the technicians before retiring to her quarters, removing the body suit and leaving her nude completely. She didn't care, though. In cryo everyone was naked and she had long gotten past caring about her modesty.

She found a pair of fatigues and undergarments and quickly dressed herself, knowing she would need to debrief with the ONI commander. When she was presentable she left her quarters she headed back to the armoury, wondering why she forgot to grab her tin.

Reaching into her armour's right breast ammo pouch she found a battered, steel tin. She grabbed it and brought it back to her quarters. She found a pen and quickly wrote VICTORIA in capital letters. She placed it on a shelf with dozens of other tins.

Each tin held a handful of dirt from their respective colonies. Each colony had been lost to the Covenant and she had fought on each and every one. It was her way of remembering why she fought. Why the SPARTAN III's were created. Why her company died on some moon that would never be named.

After doing a quick bit of mental math she counted 117 tins. One Hundred Seventeen colonies she had personally fought on. A-198 flared up in anger briefly, wishing she could have saved even one.

She shook her head as the intercom blared, calling her to the debriefing room.

She made sure she would remember to ask for an A.I as she gave the tins one final look before exiting, wondering where she would go next and who she would have to kill.


	2. Chapter 2: Battlegroup Lima

**Welcome to the first real chapter of this story. Note chapters will be between 3,500 and 4,000 words per chapter. The prologue was a special case.**

 **NOTE: I have updated the first chapter with some corrections and additions, that, while not needed may you help understand the story better. Thanks to RandomReader for stating my errors!**

 **Also shoutout to everyone on Reddit who answered my questions the past few days. /r/Halostory you guys are awesome! :)**

 **Enjoy this first crossover part! And please for all that is good in the world review! Please!**

* * *

 **UNSC Autumn Class Heavy Cruiser _Golden Age_** **, 12:06 hrs, Febuary 23 2554/UNSC Military Calendar/Military Standard Time**

A-198 sighed as she took in her quarters. They were drab, bleak looking rooms that were unappealing. That wasn't why she sighed, however.

The Alpha Company SPARTAN III sighed because she was placed in charge of five SPARTAN IV Fireteam's.

The teams, Centerion, Specter, Stalker, Zebra and Toolkit were a hassle to lead and A-198 wished she could go back to being in her own.

Specter were all former Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, and as such wore the new 'HELLJUMPER' armour in a matte black finish.

Toolkit were apart of the Army's mechanized infantry though they all wore 'WARRIOR' class armour with a white and gold finish.

Centurion were originally Marine Force Recon and wore the 'SCOUT' variant of armour in a green and brown finish similar to forest cameo drab.

Zebra were Army Airborne and as such wore the 'AIR ASSAULT' armour in a khaki and brown finish.

Stalker were former NAVSPECWAR operators and all wore the 'ENFORCER' version of the new armour in a dark blue tone.

Every Spartan barring Zebra, Centurion and Specter had gold visors. Zebra sported black visors from when they still considered Army Rangers, Centurion had blue visors though A-198 wondered why they wouldn't have chosen black and Specter had their trademark Grey/Silver visors from when they were ODST's.

Each team had four members making the total number of SPARTANS under A-198's command 20, and as the senior SPARTAN present A-198 held as much power and say as a marine battalion commander.

She had been given command of them right after the mission to Victoria. They had performed exceptionally well against both Covenant remnants and Innsurectionist forces and had been given a slew of medals and praise by officers on every mission given to them.

To A-198 however they were merely 'acceptable'.

She sighed again as she realized that the battlegroup would enter Slipspace in an hour, giving her almost no time to drill her SPARTANS.

"The room looks nice, don't you think?" A female voice coming from beside her bed asked.

"It'll do." A-198 stated dryly.

"Come now Lieutenant. It's quite nice. Much better then the one on Dermas." The voice materialized into the form of a young woman wearing a UNSC Navy officer's uniform on a portable A.I pedestal.

"Dermas served its purpose, as will this." A-198 replied. "Since when do you care about my room Lilia? Your an A.I."

"I still know what is and isn't nice, Lieutenant." The dumb A.I replied. "I may be made for intelligence gathering and infiltrating enemy systems but you have to give me the benefit of having almost all human likes and dislikes here."

"Why did you download that again?" A-198 asked. While she was grateful for the A.I's assistance and had grown to trust the A.I it had a few 'quirks'.

The A.I was constantly talking, always giving its opinion freely without worry of reprimed. It talked about _everything_ and A-198 constantly asked it to be quiet. She heard some of her SPARTANS, namely those in Fireteam Zebra state A-198 had feeling for the A.I. The thought repulsed her. It was a piece of military hardware, nothing more, nothing less and its destruction, while it would be a crippling blow, wouldn't be the end of the world.

The only redeeming factors about the A.I were that it was an enormous help infiltrating enemy positions and strongpoints, hacking into and disabling their radar and automated defences easily. And as soon as A-198 was on a mission the A.I turned all business like. _Like a proper officer._ A-198 mused.

A-198 quickly unpacked what limited personal effects she had, those being her dress uniform, multiple undergarments and fatigues, toiletries, a couple of old print books which she quickly checked were undamaged, a TACPAD, an antique but nevertheless durable pocket watch, one of her knives and her many tins of dirt.

As an officer A-198 had access to her own private quarters away from the enlisted and thankfully she wasn't bunking with her SPARTANS.

The first mission with them she had found out that one of them, a member of Specter named Issac Remington snored like crazy. After that she pitched her own tent alone or grabbed her own room some way or another.

Thankfully on board a ship A-198 got her own private quarters due to her officer status.

"Where are the team's right now?" A-198 asked Lilia as she finished folding and storing her clothes.

"In the hanger, working on their Pelicans. shall I contact them?"

"No. Leave them be for now. I need to go see the Captain. I pass by the hanger anyway."

A-198 bid Lilia goodbye as she exited her quarters, heading to the bridge. She passed many crewmen and Marine personnel who all gave her a wide berth though A-198 stayed clear of them anyway.

When the SPARTAN III passed one of the many windows she got a glimpse of one of the other two ships in the battlegroup, a newer UNSC Strident-class frigate.

 _Apocalypse_ was shown brightly on its hull as two F-41 Broadsword fighters flew between the ships on patrol.

The final ship in the battlegroup was also a Strident-class frigate known as the _Armageddon._

A-198 continued her trek through the ship, stopping momentarily to check on her Fireteams.

The SPARTANS had been given two G79H-TC Pelican gunships and a single D79-TC Pelican transport plus their respective crews as their personal transports.

Specter and Zebra rode in the gunships while every other SPARTAN were flown in by the transport due to the gunships having less troop space and owing to the two team's aerial insertion backgrounds.

One of the tech specialists working on the Pelicans noticed A-198 enter the hanger and called the group to attention.

A-198 thanked the tech before eyeing her SPARTANS.

All of them wore their armour barring their helmets which they had magnetically strapped to their waists or placed on nearby tables.

"Team leaders on me, everyone else carry on." A-198 said in the hanger. The group went back to their work, the SPARTANS helping the techs with whatever it was they were doing previously barring five SPARTANS who separated themselves from the group and walked over.

These were the Fireteam leaders of each team.

"What do you need boss?" Spartan Hailey Reynolds asked. She was a short, skinny woman hailing from Indonesia, Earth and was the leader of Fireteam Toolkit.

"Status on your teams? Morale?" A-198 replied.

"My Boys are green, ma'am." Spartan John Whinne of Fireteam Specter stated. He was a tall, muscular beast of a man from New Alexandria, Reach.

"Zebra is ready for anything, Loot. Just give us the word." Spartan Clarissa Whyte of Fireteam Zebra said, a smile on her tanned face. She was from Madrigal.

"Centurion's a'okay ma'am." Spartan Lulu Winters, a medium height woman, from A-198's own colony of Medusa stated.

"Stalker ready for the black, lieutenant." Stalker's leader, Kyle Davies replied. A-198 most trusted Stalker for delicate operations, and, if she was being honest was her favourite of the teams. The man was quiet and his team kept to themselves, rarely socializing with the other teams. They held the most promise, to the SPARTAN III.

"Toolkit is ready to go to work whenever. And by the way I hate ships. Ma'am." Reynolds said.

"Noted Reynolds. What are you all working on?" A-198 asked, pointing at the SPARTANS all over the Pelicans.

"Upgrading the armour and internal systems, ma'am. The D79 has a holo-table, an extra ten millimetres of armour and upgraded stealth signature. We're fitting the same to the other two now." Davies replied. "Needy's been helping us out.

Davies was referring to Needs Gases, one of two former Covenant Engineers attached to the ship.

Both Engineers had suites to preform, one, Leaks Found, was assigned to Engineering and general ship repairs. Needs Gases was incharge of vehicle and fighter repairs.

A-198 nodded in appreciation. "Good, but remember I want everyone on ice within thirty."

"Yes mom." Reynolds replied sarcastically.

"That wasn't funny. Dismissed." A-198 stated flatly. The five SPARTANS gathered around her saluted and went back to their teams.

A-198 shook her head before continuing towards the bridge.

* * *

 **UNSC Autumn-class Heavy Cruiser _Golden Age_ _,_ 12:20 hrs, Febuary 23 2554/UNSC Military Calendar/Military Standard Time**

As the SPARTAN III entered the bridge she quickly asked a nearby crew member for the Captain. He wordlessly pointed to the far end of the bridge.

The Autumn-class was structured like it's Halcyon predecessor and as such the bridge was long, loaded with consoles and compared to other bridge designs was quite spacious.

A-198 found the Captain staring at a tactical map in front of a window.

"Captain Hale, sir." A-198 stated, coming to attention as the Captain turned.

He was a younger man, in his mid forties though he was still one of the better captains in the fleet.

"You are the commander of our SPARTAN contingent, are you not?" He asked.

"Yes sir. Lieutenant Alpha-One-Nine-Eight, sir."

"No name?" The Captain asked.

"That is my name, sir." A-198 replied.

Captain Hale nodded, content with the answer. "Do you know why we're here, Lieutenant?"

"Sir?"

"We are here because four months ago you grabbed a crystal from some Covvie or another, correct?" A-198 nodded. "The Spooks at ONI found it has co-ordinates. They want us to find out where those co-ordinates lead. This is a long duration mission and we'll be out of contact from the UNSC for a while if these co-ordinates are to believed. We also have that crystal to help us along."

A-198 nodded. "Sir. What if something happens?"

"Then we deal with it. Get into a cryo bay SPARTAN. We'll handle it from here. If we need you we'll unthaw you."

A-198 nodded and made to leave but the Captain put his hand on her shoulder.

"There is the very real possibility we will make contact with another alien race. Your SPARTANS are our first and final line of defense should things get hot. Your judgement _will_ be needed."

"Understood, sir." She saluted and left.

"COMMS what's the status on our escorts?" Captain Hale asked, looking towards Lieutenant Wilkins.

"Both ships report they're green, Sir."

Captain Hale nodded. "NAV are those co-ordinates plotted?"

"Yes sir. Plotted and ready whenever. The Slip-drive is warmed up." Lieutenant Danforth stated.

"Weapons?"

"All Archers are green and safeties on. MAC gun is at 100% charge but safeties on. Point Defences are cleared for use." Lieutenant Leyer replied.

"Good. Jeeves give the word." Captain Hale stated, nodded towards the ship's A.I, a portly British gentleman wearing a top hat and holding a cane.

"Of course sir." He replied. _"All non-essential crew are to head to their assigned cryo bays for deepthaw! Repeat all non-essential crew are to head to cryo!"_

After fifteen minutes Jeeves reported all crew were in cryo.

"We're getting sloppy." Captain Hale muttered.

"All ships ready to jump, sir." Wilkins stated.

"Estimated ETA to co-ordinates is one week, sir." Danforth said.

"Let's get this going then. NAV take us to those co-ordinates. Jeeves remember to wake the bridge crew and engineering sections an hour before we enter real-space." Hale stated.

"Of course sir. Your pods are waiting."

And with that they were gone.

* * *

 **UNSC Autumn-class Heavy Cruiser _Golden Age,_ 10:09 hrs, Febuary 26 2554/UNSC Military Calendar/Military Standard Time**

Jeeves was bored. He wasn't bored like a human would be bored, no he was exponentially worse. The ship was perfectly fine and there were no problems.

He had moved his cameras over every crewmember, from the heroic SPARTANS to the lowly technician over seventeen thousand five hundred eighteen times in the last three hours.

This time, however he stopped over the only crewmember that had classified information.

The SPARTAN III lieutenant.

She was pale as a ghost, completely naked though so was the rest of the crew. Jeeves could care less about what his human companions wore, so long as they were okay. He continued to look at the SPARTAN in awe? Could he feel awe?

Her hair was a dirty blond, done into a small bun and her normally green eyes were tightly closed. Her face looked young, almost child like even though she was 29 years of age. Jeeves wrote this off to cryosleep . Her A.I stated she could have been a model. Jeeves didn't doubts that assessment. Even so she wasn't untouched by her time as a SPARTAN.

She had small scars over her left cheek bone and jawline and a rather large gash under her breasts. Jeeves noted the pattern of the gash was typical of UNSC combat knives and wondered how she had received the mark.

Aside from those her body was untouched from the years of warfare and turmoil she had been subjected to. A noteworthy feat.

For an A.I who craved information she was like a parent teasing a puppy with a treat. He would never have the clearance to see her full file and every time he laid eyes on it he wished he could see more.

He saw that her heart rate had increased and that she was breathing heavily. Jeeves chalked this up to being a nightmare and left her be. He panned over the other SPARTANS, they were nowhere near as awe inspiring as the SPARTAN III.

He checked the ship again and found the crystal A-198 had taken to be...vibrating? He also noted odd fluctuations and energy emanating off of it.

Jeeves was perplexed by this and began to document it. Though he couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. Very, very wrong. As such he decided to take drastice measures, just in case.

He woke the bridge crew and engineers, human or other wise.

* * *

 **UNSC Autumn-Class Heavy Cruiser _Golden Age,_ 06:34 hrs March 2 2554/UNSC Military Calendar/Militsry Standard Time**

The three ships exited Slipspace within seconds of one another. The exit was anything but smooth, however.

"Status?" Captain Hale asked as the ship rocked around, the vibrations throwing one unlucky crewman to the floor. The lights flickered on and off and consoles sparked occasionally.

The bridge crew and engineering sections had been taken out of cryo six days ago by Jeeves who had stated the crystal was acting odd. As such both groups were tired and had been taking power naps in shifts, just in case something went wrong. Evidently something had gone wrong.

"Sir we've got power fluctuations on all decks, Comms are a mess and I'm having trouble contacting the other ships, sir." One of the officers stated.

"Sir that just crystal exploded! Two engineers were caught in the explosion, both have minor wounds!" Jeeves stated. "I hate to say I told you so but..."

Captain Hale signed. They already had wounded, minor though it may be. And Jeeves was right. That crystal was bad news.

"The co-ordinates check out sir but...something's wrong." Leiutenant Danforth said uneasily.

"What do you mean?" The Captain asked.

"From what the sensors are showing we're in the Sol system, sir, beside Saturn." She pointed to the looming gas giant. "I've double checked with Jeeves and I'll run it over with my counterparts in the frigates but the sensors aren't wrong sir. I'm detecting every planet in the system right where they should be. But I'm not getting any UNSC signals sir, Military or otherwise."

"You mean where they should be 300 years in the past." Jeeves said materializing on a pedestal.

The Captain frowned. "What about our other systems? Weapons? Shields? Life support?" The Captain asked.

"Life Support is active sir. We won't run out of air." Jeeves said.

"Shields and weapons are both ready to be used." Lieutenant Leyer replied. As soon as he finished the power returned to normal and consoles stopped sparking.

"Sir the engineers say they've fixed the power issue." another officer said.

"Good. Let them get some rest. They've been awake for longer than they needed to be. Get word to the other ships that they are to hold positions and assess dam-"

"Sir unidentified contact 400,000 kilometres distant, on the other side of the gas giant! Unknown classification!" One of the crew members yelled out.

 _What!_ Hale thought as he saw the contact on the main screen.

It was small, almost 200 metres long and armed with five unknown weapons. It looked very odd to Hale and he wondered how it had ever gotten in space. It was like a triangle almost. Skinny at the front but bigger in the back. The weapons were arranged with the four identical weapons facing the port and starboard directions while the main gun faced the bow, under a view screen of sorts.

"Unthaw everyone! Get the First Contact protocol activated! I want weapons charged and safeties off and shields up! Co-ordinate with the other ships! No one fires unless fired upon. And get those alarms going!" Captain Hale yelled out as alarms blared and crew began running to and fro.

First Contact Protocal was more or less the modus-operandi for UNSC ships when dealing with unknowns. It stated that all weapons were to be fully charged and ready for firing and that everyone was unthawed from cryo. The Captain of the lead ship would attempt to contact the other ship and get a meeting arranged for discussion of cultures and the like. It was a _very_ loose Protocal and most officers more or less winged it.

"Please don't be another Covenant." One of the crew whispered fearfully. Everyone agreed with her.

* * *

 **Systems Alliance Frigate _Interstellar,_ 12 _:_ 55 hrs, July 12 2131/Systems Alliance Calendar/Earth General Time**

Captain John Hackett frowned as he took in the gas giant Saturn. The ship and its crew had been deployed to investigate a disturbance ont the far side of Saturn.

His ship was one of the newest ships the Alliance had built, being 198 metres long and armed with four 20mm Autocannons and a 30mm railgun as its main gun. Not that the crew ever thought they'd use them. The guns were there to show the Alliance was ready for whatever the galaxy threw at them.

"Sir I'm picking up three unknown objects where the disturbance was." A crewman said.

"Think it's aliens?" One of the other crew asked.

"Don't know man. If it is I hope they're friendly."

As his ship came around the Gas Giant Hackett saw the objects and nearly fainted. There, in the blackness of space were three ships. Two were around 600 metres long while the biggest was over a kilometre! Compared to the _Interstellar's_ pitiful 198 metres those ships were giants.

"Sir? Sir? Orders?" One of the bridge crew asked in a whisper.

The crewman's voice brought Hackett back to reality and he rushed into action.

"Get a sensor reading of them, have they communicated with us yet?" The crewman manning the COMMS stated that, no, they hadn't communicated yet and that their sensors couldn't pierce the hull.

"Guess it's up to us then." Hackett mused. "Transmit this on all frequencies..."

"Your live sir." One of the crewmen whispered.

" _To the unidentified ships holding position at Saturn this is Captain John Hackett of the Systems Alliance. State your intent in this system. We hold no hostile intent towards you or your people...we'd just like to know what you are."_

The bridge was silent for three tense, fearful minutes before one crewman shouted at the top of his lungs. "They replied! Holy shit they replied!"

"Play it." Hackett said, giddy with anticipation.

 _"Thi...s...the...U...NS...C Autumn-Class...Hea...Cruise...to Captain...Hackett...the Systems...iance...We wish...contact wit...leaders to discuss...alliance. We also... you to keep a secret, if possible."_

"Sir this isn't a reply! It's a comm link!" One of the crew yelled.

"They can hear us?" Hackett asked.

 _"Correct...you comply...with...terms?"_ The person on the other end of the link replied _._

 _"There is heavy static on our end. What was that about a secret?"_ Hackett asked.

 _"This."_

I'm getting a visual!" One of the crew yelled as the main screen began to display a picture.

The visual made everyone in the bridge freeze in place in disbelief.

* * *

 **That wasn't my best in my opinion though the first contact will be two full chapters long so I can remedy everything then. Please review! Thank you!**

 **Also what do you guys want out of this story? Do you want a Curbstomp? A fair fight? Shadow war? Tell me in a PM or a review please! :)**


	3. Chapter 3: Incompetent Thoughts

**Hello again! I'm back! And now To answer some reviews!**

 **RandomReader: Yes John Hackett is Hackett Sr. Glad you caught that! As for the number that was actully a massive coincidence, honestly. I'm keeping it though. :) As for A-198 yes, the rules she knows and lives by are gone, and her world is thrown into chaos. And yes, due to the UNSC possessing Slipspace the date of first contact will be moved forwards.**

 **UNSC Independent: that is a cool idea and one I hadn't thought about. While the majority of the UNSC will stay with their ships and the Systems Alliance maybe one ship might flee, or not. I don't know yet though I will keep the idea in mind!**

 **and without further ado, the chapter, at last!**

* * *

 **UNSC Autumn Class Heavy Cruier** ** _Golden Age,_** **March 2 2554/ UNSC Military Calendar/Military Standard Time**

A-198 hated cryosleep, not for the reasons most hated it though. Sure, it was more or less the same reason as the regular crew but for a very different outcome.

Like the rest of the crew, and every other human in existence, she needed to enter the pod completely naked, devoid of even the simplest of undergarments so she didn't get Freezer Burn, a rather painful side effect of entering Cryosleep with clothes on.

She could care less if the crew saw her naked, she never got embarrassed when other crew saw her more private areas, like they would if she saw theirs. Worrying about her body in such a manner was irrelevant to whatever mission she was currently partaking in and as such she paid no mind to it.

What at she disliked about being naked in Cryo was that she was utterly defenceless. She had no weapons, no armour, not even clothes to provide protection for her. Her body was open to the elements entirely. Be that the simple air of the ship or the lethal light-show that was weapons fire she was utterly exposed.

So when she awoke to the look of utter terror on the Technician's face as well as her black bodysuit laid out on a nearby bench for her she instantly willed the pod to open faster. As her hearing came back to her she heard alarms and klaxons wailing she began silently cursing the inventor of these pods.

When the pod finally opened fully she stepped out and headed to the bench to put on her bodysuit. The tech talking as she walked.

"Lieutenant, glad your awake. The Captain wants you on the bridge ASAP but take it slow, you still need to-"

He was interrupted from his speech when A-198 bent forwards quickly, coughing out white liquid from her mouth. The liquid, which was originally a gas, was given to everyone who entered Cryo to help ease the passage of air to the lungs. UNSC personnel were recommended to swallow the bile but The SPARTAN III didn't think anyone actually did swallow it, considering it tasted awful.

As she upchucked the liquid she heard the Technician mutter something to himself and noted the words "damn", "nice" and "ass" were in the same sentence, among some other words.

The Lieutenant shot the man a glare as she once again stood to her full height, the Tech only gave a small sorry for his earlier thought. She grabbed the bodysuit and quickly put it on, covering her pale body minus her head.

"The Captain wants you on the bridge, ma'am. With your armour."

A-198 nodded to the Technician. "What about my teams?"

"They're getting outfitted same as you. Follow me so we can get your armour on."

The Spartan nodded and followed the man to an adjacent room that was serving as the armour bay for the SPARTANS.

There were rows of disc like machines lining the room and A-198 quickly headed for the farthest, hers.

She stepped into the new machine and in seconds her armour was on completely. If this had been one of the old ships it would have taken an entire team of Technicians and fifteen minutes to get her armour on, not so anymore.

She stepped off the machine, now fully armoured and ready to go.

The Tech nodded approvingly. "Now get to the bridge, double time. Captain's excepting you."

* * *

 **SSV _Interstellar, 01:30 hrs, July 12 2131/Systems Alliance Calendar/Military Standard Time_**

"Yes sir that's the truth." Hackett replied to the Alliance President, Jonah Graves. "Was the vid recording and audio files not proof enough?"

Hackett had gotten ahold of the President quickly enough, and, upon briefing the man was waiting for him to get here. The only problem was that Graves was a pampered asshole who bought his presidency and having been woken up in the early hours of the morning was even more grouchy than normal.

"You realize for myself and the joint-Chiefs to come out there is a huge risk, right Hackett?"

"Yes sir but if what this Captain Hale said was true, and I believe him, those three ships could easily beat anything we have, even the new Victoria-Class."

"This is a damn fine mess you've gotten us into Hackett. But fine, expect us in an hour, two tops." Graves replied as though he was watching the news and not discussing the biggest moment in Human history.

Hackett scoffed. That man could potentially cause the death of everything humanity held dear, though he couldn't really blame him, the odds of Humanity's first contact being with their own species was an impossible certainty, until today, it seemed.

* * *

 **Alliance Headquarters, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada**

"So as I'm sure your aware something big has happened." Graves said to the six other people in the room. The room didn't technically exist and was known as the Box by those that had entered it as that's what it felt like, a big giant box.

"And what is that, exactly?" Admiral James Patterson asked. Like Graves he bought his rank and title, having connections to most of earth's large mining corporations.

"Yes, please tell us just what is so important." The Alliance head of intelligence, Vanessa Conney added. She, unlike Graves and Patterson had achieved her rank thanks to hard work and experience.

"Three hours ago the frigate Interstellar, found...well, they found aliens." Graves said, mumbling the last bit, as though he didn't believe it, he still didn't.

"What was that? Graves did you really say aliens?" General Bartley, a stocky man built like a brute and commander of the Marines yelled.

"Yes. I have been given recordings of their ships and audio files of their conversations. The most peculiar thing however, is that they are human."

If the previous statement caused a ruckus then the mentioning of Humans caused an uproar.

"Impossible!" The Director of Public Relations yelled.

"There must be a more logical explanation!" Connery shouted, obviously not believing the story.

"Well there isn't until we meet them, which will happen in a hour from now, we need to get to Saturn." Graves replied. "And you will all act peacefully."

"Fine, but let me do the talking, please." Connery stated, glaring at Graves. Everyone silently agreed with her.

* * *

 **UNSC _Golden Age, same time_**

"Sir, Lieutenant A-198 reporting as ordered, sir." The Spartan III stated, saluting Captain Hale.

"Good to see you Spartan. I assume you want a sit-rep?" Hale asked.

"Sir, only if you deem it necessary, sir." A-198 stated flatly, knowing that the bigger picture right now was meaningless to her.

Spartans never really worried about the big picture, massive Fleets or gigantic Armies. They worried about little things, like how much ammunition they had for all their weapons or how to properly clear a room infested with Covenant. Simple things, small things.

"Well I do, considering you'll be head of security for this operation." Captain Hale replied.

"Sir?" The Alpha Company member asked, cocking her helmeted head to the side in confusion.

"We've come out of Slip near a system inhabited by humans, the system looks identical to Sol." Hale waited for a response, a mummer of disbelief, a shake of the head, anything. All he got was silence. Taking this to mean he could continue he spoke again. "We don't know who these people are or even if we're in the same galaxy, as such standard First Contact rules apply. Pick a team of SPARTANS to accompany myself and Agent Lannister aboard their ship, where the meeting will happen."

"Sir." A-198 stated, switching to TEAMCOMM. _"Stalker report to the hanger bay ASAP."_ Without waiting for a response she told the Captain. "Team ready sir, whenever you wish to proceed."

"We still need to wait for their diplomats to arrive, Spartan, double check your gear and confirm your team is set. Dismissed."

"Sir." She saluted, turned on her heel and left the bridge, her armour clanking off the floor with each step.

For the next thirty five minutes the UNSC battlegroup played the waiting game, the two frigates always keeping their MAC guns trained on the much smaller ship.

At one minute past the thirty minute mark the battlegroup received a message, text only, from Hackett.

 _ **DIPLOMATS ARRIVED, YOU MAY DOCK WITH US**_

"How nice of him to send us a message, even though I picked up the shuttle sized craft with multiple human life forms aboard twenty minutes ago." Jeeves stated as the Captain read the message. "Shall I notify Sierra 198 sir?"

"Yes. We'd best get going. Commander Worth you have the bridge." Hale stated to his XO, a young woman from Meridian, who nodded briskly.

Hale quickly headed down to the hanger, a Marine detail escorting him every step of the way.

When he entered the respective hanger he noted the SPARTANS waiting for him, lined up next to the Pelican as the pilots preformed their pre-flight checks. He also caught the tail end of a briefing by A-198.

The SPARTAN III had upgraded to the GEN II platform three months ago, choosing the Mark VI variant, gold visor, green armour, like the SPARTAN II's of legendary status. An MA5D Assault Rifle was attached to her back armour and an M6D was attached to her thigh, Stalker, the team she had chosen to assist in the security detail had similar armaments, barring two of them carrying M45 shotguns.

"Spartans Reece and Delmont will go in front, to my front left and right respectively, Osmo and Davies will go behind the Captain and other officers, acting as a rear guard. Hold fire unless fired upon." A-198 turned to see the captain.

"Officer on deck!" One of Stalker yelled, Hale couldn't tell which. As one the five SPARTANS saluted.

"At ease. Lieutenant everyone ready?" He asked A-198.

He briefly saw the Spartans switch places, time warped and he was back on the Pillar of Autumn, just before Reach, when he had been injured by a faulty blast door and med-evac'd to the surface. He had been subsequently taken to Earth once Reach was attacked.

198's numbers changing to 117, the other Spartans had a similar change, changing from the members of Fireteam Stalker to the members of SPARTAN II Blue Team, 058, 087, 104 and 005.

He remembered like it was yesterday. They looked so monolithic, angelic. Hale shook his head, dispelling the memory.

"Sir, yes sir, Spartan team ready when you are." She replied, her gold visor boring into him.

"Good. Pilot, your bird all set?" Captain Hale asked the pilot, a lean man named Johnston.

"You bet your ass she's all set sir, though aren't we missing someone?"

Hale was about to say no when he heard yelling behind him.

"I'm coming! I'm coming! Sorry I'm late Captain." ONI Agent Lannister said, saluting. Behind him was the ship's chief science officer, a small woman named Veronica Normandy.

"Everyone here? Yes? Good, Captain, my bird's ready whenever you are." Johnston said.

"Then lets get this over with. Weapons tight people. Lieutenant your A.I ready?" Hale asked as the Pelican rocketed out into space.

The Spartan turned towards Hale, though instead of the measured and calm voice of A-198 the voice that responded was cheery and vibrant. "Absolutely sir! I'll monitor their unencrypted channels as soon as I can and I've got a small video prepared for our cousins."

"Good. Keep the lieutenant and battlegroup posted Lilith, I'd rather not get caught with our pants down In enemy territory." Captain Hale replied, nodding at the helmet Spartan/A.I pair.

"Sir I've been given clearance to dock with their main docking bay, ETA thirty seconds tops, sir." Johnston yelled from the cockpit. "Commencing final approach, get ready SPARTANS."

The five super soldiers preformed last minute checks on their weapons and armour, every movement was fluid, precise, measured and preformed a thousand times over on a thousand different battlefields.

Hale watched with rapt attention as the IV's double checked their ammo, making sure their weapons were squared away and ready for use. If the IV's were good A-198 was superb, her movements were fast and defined, everything had a level of perfection to it that the IV's lacked.

The Spartan III nodded once her team was ready, the group listening as the Pelican connected to the docking tube.

A weapon safety was flipped off, then back on, shields were turned off then back on rapidly, allowing the user to make sure they were recharging correctly, the sound ruining the silence that had built up.

One Spartan cracked their knuckles loudly, breaking the silence even more.

"We're good, opening the hatch...Good luck sir." Johnston said as the hatch opened, showing the UNSC personnel their Alliance counterparts.

* * *

 **SSV _Interstellar_**

Hackett stood at ease facing the docking tube, his uniform polished and immaculate even though sweat was covering his forehead and armpits. Behind him a team of six Marines, three on each side, stood at attention, their weapons, MS-12 Assault Rifles from the now defunct Chinese Federation held across their chests.

The docking bay door began to open and Hackett held in a breath. _What would come out of that door?_ Hackett wondered. Monsters? Freaks?

The group stood stock still, waiting as the door finally opened.

What stepped out of the docking tube made Hackett freeze in place, the Marines behind him taking involuntary steps back from the UNSC delegation.

There, walking towards him stood giants, four of them wore dark blue armour with gold visors, the armour looked form fitting and at the same time powerful, their boots clanked on the metal floor and Hackett wanted to run and hide, never to see these _things_ again. The other one was wearing similar armour but this one was a dark green and looked more bulky than the others. It also had a gold visor and Hackett found himself wishing he could look away, knowing he couldn't as the four figures gazed upon him.

It felt like they were boring into his skull, his very being.

He then saw three other figures, these ones thankfully human. Two men and a woman, Hackett noticed one was the Captain he had spoken to earlier. The other two were unknown.

One, the other man wore an all black uniform bereft of insignia, Hackett's instincts screamed 'spook' and he glared at the man.

The woman wore a uniform similar to the Captain, though with white as a secondary colour compared to the Captain's black. Hackett shook his head lightly, hoping the titanic figures didn't see the movement.

Finally he swallowed a gulp and stepped towards the UNSC members. "Welcome aboard the SSV _Interstellar._ I'm Commander Hackett, the commanding officer of this vessel." Hackett said, his face a mask, as he held out his hand for the Captain to shake. Captain Hale stared at the hand for a moment before shaking it roughly. All the while the Marines were having a stare down with their giant armoured counterparts.

Hackett wondered if these behemoths in front of him were the UNSC's mainline infantry and wondered if the Alliance Marines they were currently staring down seemed small and insignificant compared to what ever they normally faced. One of the figures, the Green one turned towards him, bowing it's head slightly.

Hackett thought that was a yes.

"I'm Captain Hale of the UNSC _Golden Age_ , flagship of Battlegroup Lima." Hale said, shaking Hackett's hand.

Hacketts counterpart sounded old, war weary, as though he was exhausted and worn out. His eyes looked it to. He looked younger than he sounded though, looking like a man going into his mid forties though he sounded like he was in his late fifties or early sixties.

Not skipping a beat Hackett put on a smile. "Glad to meet you face to face Captain. If you'll follow me to the conference room?"

* * *

 _"Six hostiles, armed with assault rifles of unidentifiable make, full helmets and body armour, most likely vacuum proof. Threat level: High. Tagging them."_ A _-_ 198 said to the members of Fireteam Stalker, highlighting the six Alliance Marines in her HUD and outlining them in dark red.

Had the Spartans around her been her fellow Threes or even, should she be blessed with them, II's she wouldn't have had to say what she was doing over TEAMCOMM, knowing that the others would have come to the same conclusion as she had, maybe even before her.

However the members of Stalker weren't Spartan III's or II's, they were IV's and while they were great in a firefight they weren't used to the silent communication that A-198 employed. They were used to verbally calling out targets, like Marines or Naval Special Forces would.

Yes, A-198 could have simply taught them the hand signals and acknowledgment light signs that every Spartan III knew and used but they _weren't_ Spartan III's, they would never be Spartan III's and that was the issue. She didn't want to begin thinking of them as her team again, she had no team anymore, no company to fall back to or commanders who understood her. She had even gone so far as to ban the Fours from wearing anything resembling the Three's trademark SPI armour.

She was worried that she when she saw the Fours under her command she wouldn't see them as Fours but as her brothers and sisters of Alpha Company, if she saw that she knew it would push her over the edge, she would except them to know how she operated, preformed missions and took down foes, but they wouldn't know, they weren't her brothers and sisters. They weren't Spartans.

 _"Male, aged thirty, Commander John Hackett, no armour or weapons visible. Threat level: Low. Capture if possible."_ She continued, pushing the storm of thoughts to the back of her mind.

Hackett and Captain Hale had just finished exchanging pleasantries and we're currently heading to a conference room, the SPARTAN III told the rear guard, Stalker's One and Four, to guard the Pelican, Stalker's Two and Three would come with her and assist in negotiations.

"I've heard there are some big players in that conference room Lieutenant. Best be on your guard." Lilith stated from inside her helmet.

"How long?" A-198 asked the A.I, making sure no one else could hear.

"Three miliseconds from when the door opened. That's not even unencrypted channels either. I'm talking full blown classified military channels." The Spartan III raised an eyebrow. Most Covenant channels took over ten seconds for a smart A.I to hack into, double that for a Dumb A.I, Innsurectionist channels were shorter by half but for a dumb A.I to hack into Military channels almost unimpeded was somewhat concerning. The Spartan wasn't sure why but she tightened her grip on her rifle.

They were lead through the small ship, the Spartan finding it claustrophobic even for her. As they stopped at a set of double doors that Hackett identified as the conference room the Spartan III readied for anything that could come out.

* * *

 **And that's it guys! The offical meeting will take place next chapter!**

 **I'm not entirely sure if a Spartan would think that way about Cryo but I hope you're all fine with A-198's thought processes. And yes, she does have a name, I just haven't revealed it yet.**

 **Reviews are always appreciated and extremly welcome as it lets me know you guys want more! No flames though, please but criticism (and ways I could fix those criticisms) are greatly appreciated.**

 **And, while I don't require one just yet would greatly enjoy if one of you assisted me on the ME side of things, the Citadel Alliance and such.**

 **Please review!**

 **Until next time Spartans! (or aliens, remember, we don't discriminate here, unless you've committed mass genocide in the name of the Forerunners, then your dead)**


	4. Chapter 4: Eventful Meetings

**Hey everyone! I'm back! Happy New Years!**

 **Sadly I've not got any guest reviews to reply to so this'll be a short note though the bottom one is longer.**

* * *

 **SSV** ** _Interstellar_**

The Alliance delegation waited silently for their guests. They were being shown live footage from one of the Marine helmet cameras. The group had all watched those five figures walk in, they were towering over everyone else and the helmet cameras owner had taken a few steps back in fear. The two Marines currently in the room as guards were muttering to themselves behind their helmets.

"What the hell are they?" President Graves thought aloud.

"Robots, I think. They sure move like it." Admiral Patterson replied, equally curious.

"I don't think so. Look at the green one and the blue one on the far left. Compare their bodies to their two comrades." Director Conney stated. "You can somewhat see a small sense of femininity at the arms and the waist."

"So they have girl robots then. There's no way a human is in those suits. They're to massive to be an exoskeleton or standard body armour." General Bartley muttered.

"Do you think those are their regular infantry?" Valerie Gains, the head of Alliance PR queried.

"Doubt it. We pulled the 54th out of Garrison on Luna Base for this. Those massive bastards are most likely special ops." Bartley replied.

Any further musing was stopped as the doors opened and Hackett stepped through, followed by the three humans and the big green, potentially female, giant.

"Jesus." Gains muttered as the giant came into view, a rifle of unidentifiable make magnetically attached to its back armour plate and a large pistol attached to its right thigh.

"Good work Commander Hackett." Graves said to the Alliance naval officer. "And you must be Captain Hale? Please, sit." He asked, facing the UNSC naval officer.

"Yes. Captain Nathan Hale, commander of the UNSC Exploratory Battlegroup Lima. My comrades-" he gestured at ONI agent Lannister and Science officer Normandy. "-Are Agent Lannister of the Officer of Naval Intelligence and the battlegroup's Chief Science officer, Dr. Normandy."

"And what about your green giant?" Connery asked though it sounded more like an accusation.

"This is Lieutenant Alpha 1-9-8. Commanding officer of our SPARTAN contingent."

"No name?" Bartley asked jokingly. "So a robot then?"

"Negative. I am a SPARTAN." A flat, though obviously female voice replied from the green armour, causing every member of the Alliance delegation to partially jump in their seats. The two Marines raised their weapons by a hair's length, startled.

Director Gains recovered first. "You've introduced yourselves. I think it's our turn. I'm Director Gains. Head of Alliance Public Relations." She stated with a smile that had won over the masses many times.

Patterson was next. "Head of Alliance Navy Admiral Patterson, at your service." He stated with the thinnest scent of sarcasm.

"General Bartley, commanding officer of the best infantry unit in the galaxy. The Marines." He boasted. Connery did a small face palm, sighing heavily.

Finally, it was Connery's turn. "While I'm still sceptical that you really are humans-" Ahe paused to blow a loose strand of auburn hair away from her face. "-I'm Director Connery, Alliance Intelligence. You have me very much intrigued, Agent Lannister. Perhaps, if you are who you say you are, we can have a little...competition? To see who's better in the Intel business."

Lannister, for his part smiled. "With respect ma'am, I'm ONI, there is no one better."

* * *

A-198 found part of herself drifting off into la-la land as the two groups spoke. She knew she should stay awake and alert but this was so _boring_. She was still watching the Alliance delegation intently but she wasn't exactly paying attention to what they were saying.

"So. Let's get to know more about each other's governments, shall we?" The woman identifying herself as Director Gains said.

"Certainly. What would you like to know?" Captain Hale asked. A-198 had to give the man credit. He was completely out of his element yet wanted to do this without A.I help, a gutsy move. Not only was he out of his element but the people he was talking to were experts in this field. How the UNSC Captain hadn't slipped up once was a mystery to the Alpha Company SPARTAN.

"I believe a general overview would be best." The Alliance head of Intelligence replied. A-198 was instantly wary of the woman and had flagged her as a priority target for capture, should things go wrong.

The UNSC personnel exchanged looks, each weighing what was acceptable to say and what was not.

Doctor Normandy broke the silence first. "Well, for starters may I ask what year it is, currently?"

"2131. Why?" Commander Hackett replied warmly.

"So the estimates were right." A-198 heard Captain Hale mutter. A-198 knew that, if this was really 2131 then something was terribly wrong, that or the history classes she had taken during her training on Onyx had many errors, something she doubted.

At this moment humanity would be beginning the Interplanetary Wars, where the UN gained prominence through armed conflict. Beating back their rivals with military precision. That meant that at this moment there was a highly likely chance that the future UNSC forces would most likely be engaged right now.

She quickly got a private comm channel up with Stalker, notifying them of the discrepancy and ordering them to be on their guard.

"Well..." Dr Normandy continued. "This is going to sound crazy but our calendar has the date listed as the second of March, 2554. A date I believe is accurate."

"Wait wait wait. Hold on here. Your telling me your from the future?" General Bartley asked skeptically.

The Doctor turned a deeper shade of red than A-198 thought possible before muttering an almost silent, "yes."

"And you expect us to believe that?" President Graves muttered.

"No, we're expecting you to _accept_ that." An accented female voice coming from the overhead speakers stated. The Alliance members grew uneasy and looked to the ceiling while A-198 had to stop her hand from reflexively grabbing the M6D pistol magneticly attached to her armoured thigh.

"What the hell is this?" Connery yelled. "Did you hack this ship!"

"Negative. I merely used this ship to speak to you. Lieutenant if you'd be so kind?" A-198 wordlessly reached behind her, pulling out the A.I storage chip imbedded in her helmet and attached to her neural implant and placed it on the table. She then grabbed a small circular device from one of the many pouches all over her armour, placing the chip inside and the device on the table.

The holographic form of Lillia appeared on the pedestal. "Greetings. Forgive my entrance. I am UNSC Dumb A.I 3475-28 or Lillia, as my human comrades call me."

The Alliance members merely stared in shock, mouths agape.

"An actual A.I...Impossible." Connery stated, breathless.

"Far from impossible, Director Selena Connery."

"H-how do you know my name?" The Director asked, shocked. A-198 was worried things were starting to go south when the two parties stared each other down, the two Marines at the back of the room looked ready to open fire and we're just waiting for a confirmation from their superiors.

"I know a lot about you, Director Connery. You're a forty five year old female, born in Johannesburg, in the African Republic, on the ninth of July 2086 to a poor mother who made a living as a prostitute in the slums."

Connery was silently trying to find a meaningful response and her outward appearance suggested she was fuming leaving A-198 to mentally question just what a 'prostitue' was and the meaning of the word, assuming it was an insult of some kind.

"That's...how did you find that information?" Connery asked as all eyes focused on her and the A.I.

"Your military and civilian records are quite easy to gain access to. You should invest in better security. For example. The two men standing behind you are Marines, specifically of the 54th division, currently based on Luna. The weapons they are holding are MS-210 assault rifles chambered in NATO 5.56x45mm, though the rifles were originally chambered in 5.8x42mm but after the combined arms treaty of 2126 and the dissolving of the Chinese Federation they were rechambered to their current armament."

Captain Hale sighed. "Lillia, while all that is quite fascinating please get back on topic."

"Of course sir. As I was saying previously you might not believe we're from the future but you'll have to accept it, and, honestly, why wouldn't you? Our ships are larger than any you've ever seen before and our weapons and soldiers unfamiliar to you. While you might not like it we can easily destroy you without much of a fight."

"What Lillia is saying is that we have all the cards. To put it simply and to answer your question from before Director Gains the United Nations Space Command is the scientific and Military arm of the Unified Earth Government. We currently, at least on _our_ Earth have around 800 colony worlds and over 39 billion citizens with the biggest Navy in the known Galaxy."

A-198 knew he was lying, everyone from the UNSC did. They didn't have 800 colonies or 39 billion citizens, nor did they have the greatest Navy in the known Galaxy.

Not anymore, anyway.

They had less than 200 colonies and a little less than 16 billion citizens. Their Navy consisted of at most 200 ships, now three short, and most were damaged or in disrepair. The Spartan knew, at one time, Humanity had those things. The colonies and people and ships. But that was before her time, before the threat of Glassing became a constant and before the war.

A small part of the SPARTAN III still wondered what that would have been like to live in, humanities golden age. She still held that childlike curiosity that should have died with her original self during training. Even now she could feel it pushing and trying to get out, to rid herself of the criminal that had overtaken her mind. The criminal known as A-198.

"My god. An empire!" Bartley muttered, bringing A-198 back to the present and away from her internal conflicts.

"Yes. An empire. And we could build one here, as well. If we worked _together_." Hale stated.

"Do you mean like a partnership? Or a takeover?" Connery asked, narrowing her eyes.

"A partnership. We are alone out here, cut off from our command and superiors. Our job first and foremost is protecting Humanity and we'll continue to do that. We just need your help." Agent Lannister said. "We would be separate from your chain of command but still report to you, if that makes sense. Obviously this would need to be kept hush hush until you can reasonably explain how you got these ships and crew."

"And think of what you'll gain from this. New ships, new weapons. FTL travel...A.I!" Doctor Normandy emphasized.

The Alliance group looked to one another before Graves looked Hale in the eyes. "And if we refuse?"

"We all know you can't." Lillia stated coldly. A-198 had no doubt she was communicating with one of the two Strident Frigates serving as escort for the Autumn class cruiser, giving them a firing solution.

Graves sighed, but smiled. "Then speaking for the Systems Alliance I accept."

Hackett, who had remained silent during the entire meeting spoke up. "President Graves are you sure this is wise?"

Graves nodded. "Yes Commander. My gut says this is the right course of action, hell its the only course of action. But Captain-" Graves said, turning towards the UNSC Officer. "-Your 'Spartans', as you call them. We want them and their armour transferred to Alliance command to study."

Everyone in the room fell silent as the Alliance officers looked to their President as though he had gone mad. A-198 heard Connery whisper "are you insane?"

"That's not going to happen." A-198 said flatly. "Spartans are classified Tier 1 assets and the process to augment them is unknown to our battlegroup."

That was a lie. The battlegroup had the records and knew how to augment and arm Spartans, but gaining the material to do so was another matter entirely.

Graves smiled sheepishly. "Forgive me. I see I've overstepped my boundaries. So it's settled then? You give the Alliance supplies and schematics for ships and weapons and we let you stay in Alliance space."

"Yes. That seems fair." Hale said, standing up. "But if you attempt to overstep your boundaries again we will deal with you. Am I clear?"

"Crystal. Though if it's no trouble I'd like to send one of our officers and a squad of Marines aboard your ship with you, so we can see if you truly are who you say you are."

"One Officer, no escort." Hale replied. The room fell silent again as both men studied each other, waiting for a blunder or misspoken phrase.

It was Graves who stood down. "Fine. Commander Hackett. I'm assigning you to go aboard the UNSC ship as a liaison between the UNSC and Systems Alliance." Graves said, turning to his officer. "Godspeed."

* * *

 **SPARTAN Valerie Delmont, aboard SSV _Interstellar_**

 _"Hey, Jimmy, what do you think of all this?"_ I asked my squadmate and Fireteam leader, Spartan Jimmy Davies, over the sqaud comm channel. There was no outside reaction from any of us, we barely moved to the outside observers, and there were a _lot_ of outside observers.

I counted over a dozen on my motion trackers alone, not including the ones I could see.

Most of them were fully armoured up in bulky black bodysuits that seemed to greatly hamper movement, though they were most likely EVA rated as well, meaning we would need to breach the suits to kill.

 _"I'm not sure what to think Val. Though you really need to stop mumbling. Your our CQC expert and this is your playground, we get it, just...don't let us in on anything unless it's absolutely needed. Clear? And don't call me Jimmy."_

 _"Sorry sir. Force of habit, on both accounts."_ I replied steadfast before quickly drumming my fingers over the slide for the M45 Tactical Shotgun I held in my hands, the only movement I had made since taking up this position thirty minutes ago.

 _"The better question would be what does Alpha think of all this?"_ Spartan Karl Reece, the team's sniper muttered.

I scoffed. _"She won't tell us, you know that. She never tells us anything to begin with."_

 _"Yeah. Like her name."_ Spartan Bruce Osmo angrily stated. Apparently names were a big thing for him and his family. If he didn't know your name he couldn't trust you. I personally thought that was a load of bull but I wouldn't say anything.

There was a team bet on whether or not Alpha, our nickname for Lieutenant A-198, was a Spartan II or III, though we had no idea if there was a difference in the two, having never met or even seen a III and having only heard of the II's. My bet was she was a III, though we would need more information on them to pass judgement. The Mark VI GEN 2 armour she wore dispelled my theory, however, seeing as, as far as we knew, no SIV had been shown that armour when we were allowed to choose and as a generalist team we had been shown _all_ of them.

Or at least I thought we had.

I was about to continue the conversation when the doors to the meeting room opened, allowing both groups to exit. Instantly we formed up around the UNSC officers, our bodies placed so that we could cover all angles and guarantee none of the Alliance soldiers would attack Captain Hale. A-198 nodded to us, opening a private channel to us as we made our way back to the docking tube.

 _"Status?"_ She asked as she took up a spot at the head of the formation, her voice as flat and monotone as always.

 _"No issuses to report Ma'am."_ Davies replied _. "What's the verdict?"_

 _"The Captain has agreed to a partnership with the Systems Alliance, though I doubt that will hold for long."_

 _"Who are they, exactly?"_ Davies asked for all of us.

 _"Unknown, possible Insurrectionist connections, stay on guard."_

 _"Where are we Ma'am? Have the higher ups figured that out?"_ I asked.

 _"Unfortunately yes."_ She replied. _"We're in the past, in the 22nd century. But things are off, wrong."_

 _"Wrong how?"_ Osmo asked _._

 _"Wrong as in the United Nations doesn't exist here."_

 _"An altered timeline."_ I muttered _._

 _"Impossible!"_

* * *

 **So! That was that chapter! I'll admit I'm not entirely pleased with this one, nor do I think it's my best work however I've edited and rewrote this for so long I decided this was good enough to give you, at least to tide you over until the next chapter, when the Systems Alliance learns just how OP a CAT-II S-III can be and the UNSC takes a long hard look at what it may face in this alternate Galaxy. :)**

 **You may have noticed I made Delmont's POV first person. This will only happen for side characters and even then I'm not entirely sure I want to go this route. I may just make it entirely third person. Let me know your opinions on the matter.**

 **There was a not so subtle hint as to why I refer to A-198 as A-198 and not by her birth name, try and guess why that is, I'd like to hear your opinions on the matter.**

Also, I'm allowing people to submit OC's for an Asari and Turian exploratory group. While they won't appear for a bit I'm allowing submission now so I can get the character(s) down pat. Though be warned, most of them may die horribly. I'm accepting ten at the maximum and, depending on how much I like the character they may survive the entire Fanfic, you never know...

Now, to whet your appetites for the next chapter I present this small piece:

* * *

"Holy shit!" Private Casey yelled as the green behemoth advanced. The platoon stopped and stared at it, mesmerized by its carelessness. Over forty MS-210 rifles were aimed at it, just waiting for the order to fire. Finally, Lieutenant Jenkins fired his rifle, joined by the other members of Gamma platoon.

As the first rounds hit their target the green giant was bathed in a golden glow as the countless rounds bounced off it.

"No effect! I say again no effect on target!" Corporal Chung yelled into his radio as the

"Goddamnit! What the fucking shit is this thing?" Sergeant Relle yelled as he reloaded. The behemoth didn't return fire, merely continued to walk towards them. Most of the platoon reloaded by now and someone yelled for grenades to be thrown. A hail of them were chucked and thrown towards the giant, exploding in a flash of bright light and billowing lunar dust. As the smoke cleared the platoon looked on in horror as the thing was still standing. The grenades and rifle fire hadn't killed it. They hadn't even hurt it.

This thing was inhuman, unholy. A demon.

Private Spencer was mumbling something incoherently as they watched the green _thing_ grab it's rifle off its back, it's golden visor reflecting the faces of the forty men and women in front of it. One of the Privates asked shakily if it was just going to stand there.

She got her answer when it charged.

* * *

 **And uh, yeah, that's it for this chapter. And this kinda shows what I'm trying to do with the word 'curbstomp', not typical, is it?**

 **So, to close this I ask that you please review or, if you haven't already, follow and favourite this. It really helps me get the drive to work on the next chapter!**


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